TIGER WOODS (
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DUBLIN, Ohio — The favored horse does not always dominate the track. Ask the Orb backers at the Preakness a couple weeks ago following his runaway Kentucky Derby victory.
Perhaps this is the best explanation for Tiger Woods being an afterthought 36 holes into the Memorial this week at Muirfield Village. Perhaps it is the best explanation for Woods playing the final nine holes of his second round Friday in a battle to merely make the 36-hole cut in a tournament he has virtually owned throughout his career.
“I haven’t won every tournament I’ve played in,’’ said Woods, who has won the Memorial five of the 13 times he has played.
With the projected cutline hovering at 2-over par for much of the day (though it moved to 3-over), Woods likely made it to the weekend by carding birdies on two of his last five holes to shoot a 2-over-par 74.
Woods is 1-over for the tournament — 10 shots behind leader Bill Haas, whose 67 yesterday got him to 9-under.
“All in all, it was a day I fought hard,’’ Woods said. “That’s all I have.’’
But we expect so much more out of Woods considering his track record at Jack Nicklaus’ signature event, one of six tournaments he has won at least five times in his career.
Illustrating just how good he has been at Muirfield Village, Woods had shot par or better in 42 of his last 45 rounds before yesterday’s 74.
Entering this week, Woods’ average score at the tournament in the last 11 years was 69.14, including a final-round average of 67.64 with no final-round scores over par.
So, what gives this week?
“Tough conditions out there,’’ Woods said, referring to a blustery morning. “And I didn’t exactly play my best, either.’’
Woods closed his round with uncharacteristic sloppiness, taking bogey on No. 9, otherwise he could have come in at even par.
“It’s a little tough out there,’’ he said. “It’s not hard to make bogeys and doubles on this golf course.”
Woods doubled No. 15, a par-5 he played in 2-under in the first two rounds last year en route to winning the tournament. He is 3-over on the hole this week through two rounds.
“You can shoot a round under par here,’’ Woods said. “You’ve just got to really play well.’’
That’s exactly what Haas did, going on a three-hole tear on Nos. 4 through 6, which he played in 4-under par with a birdie on No. 4, an eagle on No. 5, where he holed out a bunker shot, and a birdie on No. 6.
The pivotal hole of the day for Haas was the par-5 11th, where he thought his tee shot went out of bounds, but it clipped a tree and stayed in play. He went on to birdie the hole.
“Very fortunate,’’ he said. “I turned a 7 into a 4 real quick. That was probably a three-shot swing there. Huge hole for me.’’
Haas has a history at the Memorial, but not the winning history Woods has.
“I caddied here for my dad [Jay] when I was in college and loved it then,’’ Haas said. “Mr. Nicklaus gave me a sponsor exemption when I first turned pro to play in this event. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
After having five top-10s this year without a victory, Haas feels he’s due for a win this week. Having missed the cut in his last two starts, though, Haas hardly entered the week as a favorite the way Woods did.
“I love being under the radar,’’ Haas said. “Let your clubs do the talking and hopefully at the end of the week I’m happy to surprise anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a favorite or not. If you don’t play well, you don’t play well.’’
Ask Woods and those Orb backers.
* There were weather delays of 22 and 87 minutes yesterday, pushing the completion of the second round to this morning.
Rory McIlroy, who shot 78 on Thursday, was en route to clawing his way back to make the cut. When play was suspended, he was 4-under par for the round and 2-over with the projected cut 3-over. … Matt Kuchar shot 70 to get to 6-under and is in second place, three shots behind Haas. … Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, followed his opening-round 72 with a 79 Friday to miss the cut.